Friday, March 5, 2010

Pocket Park

This is a little Pocket Park on the walk between my house and studio that I have adopted as a restoration and problem-solving project. This is what the shrubs, I don’t know what they are, looked like in the snow. Needless to say there was a lot of damage, when the snow melted. So yesterday, armed with new pruning knowledge (Master Gardener training), Jerry and I removed 100 or so suckers and all the damaged branches, leaving surprisingly elegant results. I wish I had taken my camera with me because the transformation was a little astounding. We also removed the mulch volcanoes, as mulch volcano kill, suffocating the plant, harboring diseases and as we found in evidence, the roots grow out of the soil into the mulch where they eventually dry out and starve to death. I don't know which happens first?The inkberry, which didn’t look all that great to start with, got clobbered. I cut out the broken parts and will wait to see what happens to them next.

Links to more of Karin's work

POT HOLDER CARE

My hand made pot holders are washer /dryer safe. Use cold-water setting, particularly with the indigo and hand dyed fabric. After the first few washings addition fraying may occur. Gently pull stray threads and cut (not too short) to the length of the rest of the fray. Iron if desired on cotton or linen setting.

Bag Care

Spot clean, or wash by hand with cool water and mild soap. Hang dry. Iron, if desired.

All fabrics have been machine-washed and machine dried before construction, I am recommending hand washing and hang drying for the care of the vintage button/s.

The pleasure of making useful things

I have been making Art for a long time now, to think about and to emotionally respond to and to hang on the wall. Twenty years ago, as a young painter I was hand sewing baby clothes for my daughter, then embroidering them and then got the idea of embroidery as Art medium. I had been hand sewing in the first place because I hated my sewing machine. Recently, I had the happy misfortune of that machine breaking, and replaced it with a nice one. I have become enamored with machine sewing again. I am in no way abandoning my love of hand embroidery or making Art, it's just a nice break to work fast and make useful things that are all about how they physically feel and function in the world.